There is a different dog under there.

April 15, 2015 7:52 AM

15 Dogs Before And After Their Spring Haircuts
posted by griphus (46 comments total)

TIL that most dogs look like labs under all that fur.

Also, welcome back, Griphus!
posted by grumpybear69 at 8:00 AM on April 15, 2015 [1 favorite]

Very timely. My dogs, two very overgrown and ratty Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, are going in for their spring buzz-cuts on Saturday morning.
posted by not that girl at 8:05 AM on April 15, 2015 [1 favorite]

The collie is creepy after the haircut though. It's like one dog's head has been grafted on another dog's body.
posted by not that girl at 8:06 AM on April 15, 2015

I have a difficult time believing that first set of pictures is the same dog.
posted by leotrotsky at 8:06 AM on April 15, 2015 [2 favorites]

there is basically nothing better than a short-cropped pomeranian.
posted by poffin boffin at 8:06 AM on April 15, 2015 [4 favorites]

I love dogs. They're like cats that don't hate you.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:11 AM on April 15, 2015 [17 favorites]

Yeah, I don't know why, it should have been totally obvious, but the idea that the furry terriers are exactly the same as the not-so-furry terriers plus fur is kinda completely blowing my mind.
posted by Sys Rq at 8:11 AM on April 15, 2015 [14 favorites]

That's not a collie, it's a sheltie.

I want to shave my dog but some dog-people have suggested I can't because she has the type of fur that keeps her cool in the summer. How does one find out if a dog is shavable?
posted by You Should See the Other Guy at 8:12 AM on April 15, 2015 [1 favorite]

I think some of them would have been fine with a good conditioner, but I'm glad more of them can see. (Also PUPPIES want one now)
posted by cotton dress sock at 8:13 AM on April 15, 2015

Yes everyone please feel free to post cute pictures of their dogs so that we may gaze upon them and marvel at their hidden and suddenly revealed eyes.
posted by Mizu at 8:18 AM on April 15, 2015 [5 favorites]

Having a short hair dog, we miss out on such things, she pretty much looks the same year round. Although my wife laments that there isn't enough fur to attach a bow.
posted by Badgermann at 8:21 AM on April 15, 2015 [1 favorite]

Here is Apple who does not get haircuts but simply sheds out another dog by summertime. I think she's trying to replicate by mitosis and just can't get the hang of it.
posted by griphus at 8:21 AM on April 15, 2015 [12 favorites]

Lieutenant Colonel Emery Baxter Puppington, III, for your viewing enjoyment.

You can just call him Emery.
posted by cooker girl at 8:23 AM on April 15, 2015 [10 favorites]

It's weird how a haircut can be aging for some dogs and...youthening? for others. #8 looks years younger with short fur, and #12 went from a youthful moppet to a worried senior citizen.

Eh, doesn't matter, they're all cute. And I bet they enjoy being able to feel the spring breeze.
posted by Elly Vortex at 8:50 AM on April 15, 2015

We had to shave our Maine Coon cat one year because he hadn't been groomed and was covered in mats. He was actually quite handsome as a shorthair, but my husband won't let us do it again. It weirded him out.
posted by emjaybee at 8:52 AM on April 15, 2015 [1 favorite]

i am always worried when I see dogs with so much hair that they likely cant see properly.

So, it was a strangely relieving experience to see these poor dogs get their hair cuts.

I wonder if they are surprised/worried by sudden changes in what/how much they can see.
posted by TheLittlePrince at 8:56 AM on April 15, 2015 [2 favorites]

I've got a PWD, and when she comes back from the groomer, I joke that she finally looks like a girl, because they do all the fussy, fancy stuff and her little feeties are all rounded and dainty.

Then I take her out into the mud.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 9:01 AM on April 15, 2015 [2 favorites]

I want to shave my dog but some dog-people have suggested I can't because she has the type of fur that keeps her cool in the summer. How does one find out if a dog is shavable?

Generally, dogs with double coats shouldn't be shaved, as their fur provides both a natural cooling system and sunscreen. My dogs both have double coats and shouldn't be shaved (sadly, because I agree dogs look super cute after their haircut).

Here's more info on dogs with double coats and shaving them.
posted by triggerfinger at 9:02 AM on April 15, 2015 [2 favorites]

One nice thing about vallhunds is that they don't really require any grooming beyond a bath when they're stinky. On the other hand, I pulled this out of Tish in a few minutes a couple of weekends ago.

Also I own extremely sexy slipper socks. Go ahead and envy them.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 9:04 AM on April 15, 2015 [5 favorites]

I can't believe they shaved the sheltie.

I want to shave my dog but some dog-people have suggested I can't because she has the type of fur that keeps her cool in the summer. How does one find out if a dog is shavable?

Ask your vet.

I'm not one. But I've had dogs and cats as pets. My understanding is that if you live in a warm climate and your dog has a naturally thick coat, it may benefit from a shave. But dogs (and cats) usually regulate their temperatures well without being shaved, so it's not strictly necessary unless your pet seems seriously uncomfortable in the heat, or their coat gets matted regularly. Someone mentioned the Maine Coon breed of cat upthread -- they're notorious for developing mats and knots in their fur. But if you regularly brush them (assuming they'll let you,) and the cat is an indoor resident, it's often a manageable problem.

But truly, a vet's the best person to ask. They know your dog. And they may be able to offer additional insight to breed-specific issues. For example, very short haired dogs typically get no benefit from shaving, and they can even get sunburned.
posted by zarq at 9:06 AM on April 15, 2015 [1 favorite]

Before and After photos of my cocker spaniels Chasely (left) and Sailor (right). In the "after" shot, they've very tired after a long day at the groomer's.

Doggies doggies doggies doggies doggies doggies doggies....
posted by magstheaxe at 9:06 AM on April 15, 2015 [6 favorites]

i am always worried when I see dogs with so much hair that they likely cant see properly.

If it makes you feel any better, dogs don't have particularly good vision to begin with: R/G coloblind and I read somewhere that good dog vision is something like 20/75 on the human scale. However, they also don't use their vision as a primary getting-around sense the way people do; instead their sense of smell guides them around, and their incredible ability to smell has no equal in humans.
posted by griphus at 9:13 AM on April 15, 2015

Dog #1 is like when you're a kid and your dad takes you to his barber and it's all old men sitting around reading the paper and the only style option is the $5 Boy's Haircut which is basically having your head mowed with electric clippers. Cute dog; bad cut.
posted by Atom Eyes at 9:25 AM on April 15, 2015 [1 favorite]

why would anyone do that to a sheltie? they're pretty good at shedding the thick wooly undercoat in time for the warm months on their own. shaving the smoother guard hairs leaves a sheltie vulnerable to sunburn.

unless s/he is out herding sheep in 100 degree temps, don't shave a sheltie!
posted by hollisimo at 9:49 AM on April 15, 2015

I understand trims, but unless your long-haired dog is seriously matted, I don't really understand why people shave them down all the way. What is the point of breeding dogs for glorious floof and then shaving most of the floof off?
posted by drlith at 10:42 AM on April 15, 2015

My dog is a mutt so he wasn't specifically bred to have the floof but when his coat is maxed out (we let it grow in the Fall and Winter), he sheds like a mad man. Like, tumbleweed epic-ness of fur. Even if he's brushed every day. That's why we shave him in the Spring and Summer. I get tired of picking up ball after ball after ball of Emery fur.
posted by cooker girl at 10:46 AM on April 15, 2015 [1 favorite]

> How does one find out if a dog is shavable?

Obvs when you apply clippers to the fur and they shatter on contact and the buzzing whirring trimmer flies out of your hand and flings itself against the wall by its power cord over and over until it's smashed into a million pieces and falls into the sink of dishwater to trigger the circuit breakers, the dog is not shavable.
posted by ardgedee at 10:57 AM on April 15, 2015 [6 favorites]

I gave my late, great chow mix a big cut like this once and he looked just like a larger version of the Pom in #9. First I didn't even recognize him when they brought him out, and then I couldn't stop laughing. People would stop us on the street and ask, "What kind of...dog..? is that?" because he looked so funny. Adorable, but funny. I so wish cameras were as ubiquitous then as they are now.
posted by Room 641-A at 11:07 AM on April 15, 2015 [1 favorite]

I have one of those mutts that is a completely different dog under all the floof. I love her with her long, magically non-matting hair. I love her when I have clipped it all off except the ears and tail. I will try to link some pictures later.

I did want to comment on the "to shave or not to shave" question though. It seems to me that any dog can be shaved if that is what the owner desires. Now for some breeds, it is certainly against breed standards and would be a serious disqualification. But if you have a simple pet/companion dog, and you want to shave that dog for whatever reason, go for it. There are some good points to be made for self insulating double coats and risk of sunburn as a reason for foregoing a complete shave; but I feel that many times breed standard is held up as the only reason for a yes or no to this question. (Why would they shave a Sheltie?)
posted by Talia Devane at 11:09 AM on April 15, 2015

My mutt Fido, in hairy and shaved configurations.
posted by namewithoutwords at 11:14 AM on April 15, 2015 [4 favorites]

Ooh, ooh, here's my dog.
posted by moonmilk at 11:15 AM on April 15, 2015 [7 favorites]

That's a new argument to me, Talia. In my experience, some purebred fanatics believe that you should spend every waking hour on the dog's health and wellbeing, so by that reasoning, it's better to groom the dog frequently in the warmer months instead of shaving it. This proves that you put the dog's needs ahead of your own convenience. Not saying that dog owners who choose to shave are selfish, only that there is a tiny subgroup of dog owners who think you're irresponsible if you don't poach the Queen's deer for your pup's dinner or give it a rose petal bath every day. I got our furbaby from one such breeder, and while I'm pretty fastidious about her grooming for the sake of her health, I'm sure I've fallen short of his impossible standards.

If one has the luxury of choice though, grooming should absolutely be less about what the owner desires and more about the dog's comfort, in my opinion.
posted by peripathetic at 11:28 AM on April 15, 2015

If it makes you feel any better, dogs don't have particularly good vision to begin with

There are some differences among breeds with regard to vision, but generally, sighthounds were also bred to not have woolly coats that would interfere with eyesight in the first place.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 11:45 AM on April 15, 2015

Ooh, ooh, here's my dog.

calling you Delilah from now on sry not sry
posted by griphus at 11:52 AM on April 15, 2015 [2 favorites]

But truly, a vet's the best person to ask. They know your dog. And they may be able to offer additional insight to breed-specific issues. For example, very short haired dogs typically get no benefit from shaving, and they can even get sunburned.

When I was working in a vet's office, we had one Pug come in who was meticulously clipped by his groomer to about half the length of his normal coat, ostensibly to "cut down on shedding." Of course he still shed, just even shorter, more prickly hairs than he otherwise would have. The overall effect was to make petting him sort of like petting a grill brush.

I agree with everyone saying not to shave double coated dogs, for what it's worth. It's a lot of time and effort for minimal to no increase in the dog's comfort. If you are going to shave a double coated dog for heat reasons, I'd just shave the belly which tends to be mostly soft inner coat and also has a lot of blood vessels close to the surface, which makes it a good heat sink.
posted by sciatrix at 11:55 AM on April 15, 2015 [2 favorites]

If I was an office admin, I would hire that last dog on sight.
posted by Philipschall at 12:12 PM on April 15, 2015

This is my schmookie with long luxurious hair.
This is my schmookie on the day we adopted her after they shaved all the matted hair off.

As my schmookie is a maltipoo, she has no undercoat and so we can let her hair grow and shave it short at will as you can see in this mid-length photo that is so. freaking. cute. how did I get such an adorable doggie!!!???
posted by Sophie1 at 1:12 PM on April 15, 2015 [2 favorites]

#8 looks years younger with short fur, and #12 went from a youthful moppet to a worried senior citizen.

Number eight looks so much like my dog it's shocking it's not him. He similarly looks older when his hair is long.

As a puppy.

Fuzzball.

Christmas Fuzzball.

And the whole point here, right? The before and after shot.

Also younger looking here but maybe that's just the company he's keeping.
posted by phearlez at 1:45 PM on April 15, 2015 [3 favorites]

Can't favorite this enough! Love them all!
posted by Pocahontas at 2:13 PM on April 15, 2015

My groomer declines to clip my dog Shaggy (eponysterical?) for summer last year, citing the coat keeping him cool and sunburn and all.

I'm thinking of asking to have at least Shaggy's belly clipped this year, because Tucson summers are hard for him, but after this morning when he got shit all over his fancy butt fur and required hosing off in the yard, I'm still kinda wishing the groomer would just shave him down.
posted by Squeak Attack at 4:11 PM on April 15, 2015 [2 favorites]

yeah, the deshittening of the assfur is one of the main reasons i will never have a scruffyhaired dog.
posted by poffin boffin at 4:41 PM on April 15, 2015 [2 favorites]

I too once owned a scruffy dog, and I too refuse to ever own one again because I hate having to deshitten the hind end area. Excuse me, do a "sanitary clip."

Of course, this is why I now have a dog so devoid of hair that her belly is just naturally naked. She also has no hair on the inside of her thighs. It's kind of amazing.
posted by sciatrix at 4:55 PM on April 15, 2015 [2 favorites]

Ha, Shaggy looks like the mullet of shepherd/golden mixes: shepherd business in the front, golden party in the rear!
posted by drlith at 5:13 PM on April 15, 2015 [2 favorites]

Our Charlie before and after. I love having a dog that changes drastically in appearance after grooming. It's like having more than one dog. Also, I've always been a huge fan of taz's pup. So cute, such lovely eyes!
posted by misozaki at 5:23 PM on April 15, 2015 [2 favorites]

As I understand it, double coated dogs should not be shaved unless for a medical issue. The outer protective hairs do not grow as fast, and the fur system is designed to protect skin and insulate against both heat and cold. The better option is to go to a groomer, and have them brush and blow out the under coat.

Apparently, shaving such dogs (particularly older dogs), can increase the odds that doggie will also get skin and hair conditions, such as coat funk.
posted by nasayre at 7:23 PM on April 15, 2015

Misoaki - ours is the same. Sometimes we don't even recognize her when she comes out of the groomers!!!
posted by Sophie1 at 7:20 AM on April 16, 2015